By Steve Kramer ALFE MENASHE, Israel — “You will never hear me say, ‘The IDF is the most moral army in the world,’” declares Military Advocate General Maj. Gen. Danny Efroni. “I think that our army has good values, but some of this has to do with the fact that it investigates and examines suspected
Prone terrorist’s killing may be justified Read More »
Middle East, Steve KramerBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — Though the 15-20 minute five-times-a-week of television news broadcast that viewers in Israel get in English from the Israeli Broadcast Authority has deteriorated almost to the point of embarrassment, I still like to watch it, especially on Thursdays when Amotz Asa-el, one of the best informed and most sensible
Corruption, homicide keep Israeli pot boiling Read More »
Middle East‘We cannot accept’ terrorism, Greek president says in Israel (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israeli President Reuven Rivlin hosted Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos for a meeting in Jerusalem on Wednesday. Before the meeting, during which Rivlin and Pavlopoulos discussed strengthening bilateral Israel-Greece ties, the two leaders toured the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial together. Rivlin called Pavlopoulos
Middle East Roundup: March 31, 2016 Read More »
Middle East
-50th in a Series- Exit 18, Mollison Avenue, El Cajon ~ Refugee Resettlement Program By Donald H. Harrison EL CAJON, California –With millions of refugees lingering in camps around the world, receiving refugee status in the United States is a difficult process – only a fraction of the refugees ever make it. And for those
I-8 Jewish Travel ~ Resettling refugees Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USABy Alon Ben-Meir NEW YORK–The horrific attacks in Brussels by terrorists affiliated with ISIS that claimed the lives of 35 people and injured more than 200 was all but inevitable. These attacks may well increase in frequency and intensity in many European cities where citizens travel freely and violent extremists among them can plot attacks
A 3-step approach for defeating Islamist terrorists Read More »
Alon Ben-Meir, International, Middle East, USABy Michael Ordman NETANYA, Israel — I was prompted into writing my first blog of 2016 by yet another appalling report on the BBC World Service The Science Hour 27/3/16. Just after the Jewish festival of Purim, the Biased Broadcasting Corporation erased the name of Israel, Jews and Israeli companies from a program discussing the
Positively Israel: All Will Be Revealed Read More »
Michael Ordman, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & EducationOff-duty Israeli security guards now allowed to carry weapons (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) A bill allowing off-duty security guards in Israel to carry weapons passed its final Knesset readings on Tuesday, with a vote of 21 lawmakers in favor of the measure and eight against it. The proposal, which aims to boost public safety amid
Middle East Roundup: March 30, 2016 Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Abu Ghraib was a prison in Iraq where sadistic US soldiers tormented and tortured Arab prisoners with no apparent purpose other than a gratification of what seemed like the Americans’ pathological desire to inflict humiliation, fright, and pain. Israel’s current brouhaha is not the same, except in the nature of
Shooting of prone Palestinian terrorist stirs controversy Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East‘The time has come’ for official Israel-Indonesia relations, Netanyahu says (JNS.org) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Monday in Jerusalem with a delegation of senior Indonesian journalists who visited Israel as guests of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Israel and Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, do not have formal diplomatic relations, but there
Middle East Roundup: March 29, 2016 Read More »
Middle East
By Gerald M. Steinberg JERUSALEM — The revelations that the Israeli political organization Breaking the Silence (BTS) was gathering sensitive or potentially classified information on the IDF caught many Israelis – including me, a long-time critic of this fringe NGO – off guard. Like others, I knew that the handful of activists in this group
‘Breaking The Silence’ probe fuels NGO reporting bid Read More »
Middle EastBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — I don’t write about every concert I attend, or even every book I read, for that matter. That would be boring and repetitive. However, there are some concerts (and some books) that I feel I really must share with anyone out there who might be slightly interested in
Bach’s ‘St. Matthew Passion’ stirs Jerusalem audience Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual ArtsGaps remain between U.S. and Israel in security aid talks (JNS.org) Gaps remain between Israel and the U.S. in negotiations on a new 10-year memorandum of understanding for security assistance. America is offering annual aid of $3.4 billion, up from the current level of $3.1 billion. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, has asked
Middle East Roundup: Mach 28, 2016 Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — A recent visit with a young Japanese friend, a paratrooper in the IDF, provided an insight into the nature of Israel and other places. He said that fellow soldiers take him for Chinese or Korean, even though he explains that he comes from Japan. Israelis do a lot of traveling
To know Israel is to know the ethnic players Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — A few days ago a human rights organization made public a video after a terrorist attack on soldiers in Hebron that shows one of the soldiers shooting to kill a terrorist who had already been injured and “neutralized” (as the official term has it). The prime minister and the
Polarized reaction to shooting incident in Hebron Read More »
Middle East